Hydrogenation process of oil refining



Aug. 13, 1935. N. J. LocKHAR-r HYDROGENATION PROCESS OF'OIL REFININGFiled July 2, 1952 IN VEN TOR. THA/V JL ack/1A e 7` BY v i f ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. `13, 1935 UNITED STATESv PTENT OFFICE HYDROGENATIONPROCESS F OIL- 4 REFINING i Nathan JlLockhart, Redondo, Calif., assignerto Lathrop" Investment Corporation, Los Angeles,

Calif., a corporation of California application July 2, 14932, serialNo. 620,669

This invention relates to a; method and apparatus for treatinghydrocarbonV oils byy a process o'fhydrogenationp, .I

n I In the treatmentgof hydrocarbon oils `bythe is hydrogen process itis :usually necessary at some stage of theprocessto raisey the,temperature of thehydrocarbons which may then be in liquid or vaporphase, to amrelatively' high ldegree of tem- ,.1 i, peraturaandat.,`such times the `apparatus-may l0" develop Weaknesses `which causedisaster This is due to the ldevelopment of leaks or the accumulation ofiree carbon in the system which may cause highlyexplosiveand combustiblecombinations of elements vto be created, resulting in firesy and oftenendangering life and considerable propertyy H It is the principal objectoi the present inventionto provide an apparatus and a method of r usingthe same, which eliminates the possibility` of `undue internal pressurein the system and prevents the` excessive heat from .corroding,cracking; or 'otherwise causing the conduits to becomeweakened-andruptured. I

The present invention contemplates the use o'i apparatus throughA which.hydrocarbon oilsin liquid or Vaporphase may be conducted, and durlingwhich time they may be treatedby apparatus including a separatevaporizing chamber in which theihydrocarbon oils are mechanicallyatomized,

3b?? andthe apparatus further including heat treating? units,` in whichthe conduits areyjacketed by insulation layers of molten metal which areliquid at the operating temperatureof `that `particular piece ofapparatus. v 1 I I `Theinvention is illustrated by way of example.

inthe accompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure lis aviewlin diagram showingaA flow plan of the preferred form ofmy apparatus.:`

Fig 2'is a fragmentary view in section and elei vation showing,` one oftheV atomizing nozzles usedapparatus operates with very desirableand-efecient results when treating oil` ranging from that whichv isknown commercially as from I2 to I6 gravity A draw-off pipe Il isconnected with the 'reservoirl I0 and communicateswiththe bot- 5 tom ofa still l2. This still is heatedto the temperature of approximately 500F., byany suitable means, such as the gas or oil burner I3, dur-A ingwhich time the oil passes from the pipe I I into.- a coil IllV and thenflows upwardly through the coil to an outlet pipe I5 communicating witha 5l nozzle structure I3. This nozzle is shown in de` tail in Fig; 2 ofthe drawing, where it will be seenv tocomprise a tubular feed pipe Ilextending horizontally through the end wall I8 of an expansion I chamberI9. I This feedpipe is externally thread- 10 ed'at its outer end toreceive rthethreadedshanli 200i aY nozzle 2|. The outerend ofthe nozzlemember is formed with a central opening 22' through which liquid may beejected. Mounted w in fixed relation tothe endof the feed tube Il fis16' a metal valve'stem 23 which is tapered at its outer municates withthe 'top of this expansion chainber and draws thehydrocarbons awayinvapor phase through a pipe 26. This conduit is of rela- 39g tively largediameter and conducts the hydrocarbon vapors into a heat treating unit21. Suit,-

able heat generators, such as the burners 28 are provided to raisethetemperature of the 'vapors Vto approximately 1120 F. The conduit 26 isled 3.5:;

into vthe `heat unit and communicates withan uppercoil 291whic`h isformed with convolutions extending horizontally.V The length of` thiscoil maybe as desired, while the outer end of the coil extends fromtheheat compartment into a hydro- 4.9 gen mixing box 3l). Disposed withinthe heat chamber V28 and beneath the c'oil 29 is a coil 3l through whichsteam is conducted from a boiler 32. `It will thus be evident that thesteam in the coi1'3 I" willbe superheated .to the temperature of 45:i1120" F.which will be the=same temperatureas that `attained by thehydrocarbon vapors inthe coil 29. The outer end 'of the steam coil 3| isformed with a go'oscneck 33, the eduction end of which extendsvertically into an accumulated bath 50.' of molten metal 34` carried inthe bottom compartment 35 of the hydrogen mixing box. The steam from thecoil is thus emptied into thebath of molten metal and its hydrogencontent will pass off through a pipe 36 into the mixing com- 55.

partment 3T of the hydrogen mixing box 30. Here the hydrogen will mixwith the hydrocarbon vapors.

A vapor pipe 38 conducts the mixed hydro- Carbon and hydrogen to thecondenser 39 where these vapors will be cooled in the presence of acooling meter, such for example, of water atk the ordinary temperatureof 65. The condensate is then drawn ofi from the condenser through apipe and is delivered as gasoline to a suitable storage reservoir.

'Ihe manner in which the vapor and steam coils 29 and 36 are protectedfrom the excess heat in the heat treating unit 27 is clearly shown inFig. 3 of the drawing, where it will be seen that these elements includean outer pipe 4i separated from an inner pipe Q2, the outer pipecommunicating with the end wall of the compartment 35 of the hydrogenmixing box and the inner pipe 42 terminating in a gooseneck 33previously described. The openings of the pipes Vare below the levelofthe molten metal 3G and make it possible to fill the space between theouter pipes @I and the inner pipe 33 with this molten metal which willact as a protecting and insulating jacket for the inner pipe 42, andwill at the same time accumulate within the compartment 35 to form atrap for the steam ejected from the coil 3i and to permit the hydrogento pass to the upper compartment of the mixing box.

' Attention is also directed to the fact that this arrangement willpermit expansion `and contraction of the molten metal without placingany undue strain on the parts of the apparatus.

In operation lead has been used as the molten metal, but in actualpractice any desired metal might be used just so long as it becomesmolten at the operating temperature of. that particular element of thedevice. In the particular application of the use of molten metal as aninsulating device in the present instance, the drawing shows the use ofconcentric pipes betweenv the spaced walls of which the molten metal ismaintained. It will be understood thatother forms of conduits andjackets might be used, but that this particular feature of theinventionl is concerned with the interposition of molten metal betweenthe walls of a container, the outer walls of which are subjected to ahigh degree of heat.

In operation of' the present invention it is desirable to treatrelatively low gravity oil in the apparatus, since the structure actseciently to bring about the recovery of an unusually high percentage ofgasoline. The low gravity oil is placed in the storage reservoir 'I0 andmay be drawn' therefrom as required to the still i2. Here it is heatedto a temperature of substantially 509i F., andthe heated material isthen led into the atomizing nozzle I 6. This nozzle will cause the vaporand finely divided liquid to be projected into the expansion chamber i9,and since the pressure of the fluid projected from the nozzle isrelatively high as compared with the atmospheric pressure within theexpansion chamber, the iiiL'd will have opportunity to expand andVaporize. The hydroc-arbon vapors then are drawn off through the pipe 26to the upper coil 29. This coil may be jacketed as previously described,and an insulating bath of molten metal may be interposed between theconduit containing the iiuid and the jacket wall. The coil 29 is in theupper part of the heated unit 2l. This unit is heated by suitableburners 28 to a high degree of temperature. The temperature proposed is1120 F. Disposed within the heat unit beneath the coil 29 is the steamcoil 3l which is jacketed as previously described. Attention is directedto the fact that steam is superheated to the same temperature as theincoming hydrocarbon vapors so that when they are led together in thehydrocarbon mixing box they will be of uniform temperature and willproduce a homogeneous vapor. The superheated steam led from the boiler32 through the coil 3i is expelled through the gooseneck 33 into thebath of molten metal 34 and as it perculates upwardly through the moltenmetal the hydrogen will escape through pipe 38 into the hydrogen mixingbox where it will commingle with the hydrocarbon vapors expelled fromthe coil 29. These vapors and the hydrogen will then form a vapor whichis led through pipe 38 to the condenser 39. Here condensation takesplace to permit the recovered gasoline to be drawn from the condensatedrawo. 40.

It will thus be seen that the device here disclosed provides simple andeiective means for rst producing a hydrocarbon vapor and a desiredamount of hydrogen gas, and thereafter causing these two vapors tocommingle in a manner to obtain a high yield of gasoline from arelatively low gravity hydrocarbon oil. And it will be further seen thatthe apparatus here disclosed permits the fluids to be handled withoutdanger of carbonization due to the high heat directly delivered to thewalls of the conduits, and without danger of rupture of the pipes due tointimate contact of the flames with the walls of the conduits throughwhich the iiuids are flowing.

While yI have shown the preferred form of my invention, as now known tome, it will be under# stood that various changes may be made incombination, construction, and arrangement of parts by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent isz-- 1. In oil refining equipment, a still through whichliquid hydrocarbon is passed and within which it is heated, an expansionchamber into which the heated oil is introduced by atomization, a heatunit through which the oil is conducted within a conduit and 'withinwhich its temperature is raised to that of vapor phase, a steam conduitpassing through said heating unit, heating means for simultaneouslyraising the oil and steam to substantially the same degree oftemperature, a molten metal bath into which the discharge end of thesteam conduit is submerged, a mixing box into which hydrogen liberatedfrom said metal bath and the hydrocarbon from the heat unit areconducted and a condenser through which the mixture of hydrogen andhydrocarbon are passed.

2. In oil refining equipment, a still through which a liquid hydrocarbonis passed and within which it is heated, a conduit leading from thestill, an expansion chamber of relatively large area'into which theheated oil is delivered from the conduit, an atomizing nozzle on theconduit and through which the oil is passed to the expansion chamber, adrawoff pipe from the expansion chamber for the atomized oil, a heatpipe connected with the drawoff pipe and through which the atomized oilpasses, a heat treating unit including said pipe, a mixing chamber intowhich the heated oil is delivered after passing through the heattreating unit, a steam pipe within the heat treating unit andcommunicating with a source of steam supply, heating means forsimultaneously heating the steam and the j atomized oil passingthroughthe heat treating unit, a jacket disposed around the steam pipe andwhich is lled with molten metal, a box in communication with said jacketand within which molten metalaccumulates to a level to maintainintroduced into the molten metal and must percolate upwardlytherethrough, a connecting pipe between the box and the mixing chamberwhereby the steam will be caused to commingle with the hydrocarbonswithin the mixing chamber, and a condenser in communication with saidmixing chamber and within which light hydrocarbon fractions are obtainedby condensation.

3. In oil reiining equipment a heat treating unit comprising an outershell, a conduit Within the upper part thereof and through which oilvapors and atomized oil pass, a compartment into which said oil productsare discharged, a second compartment in communication therewith intowhich said oil products may pass, a steam conduit passing through theshell and communicating with said second compartment, a jacket for saidconduit, said jacket surrounding the conduit and the second compartmentbeing filled with molten metal into which ste-am is introduced NATHAN J.LOCKI-IART.

